Двойная увертюра - Глава 30
“Cai Bian has done all sorts of bad things, he really deserves to be taught a lesson.” Hao Jinfeng also felt quite relieved, and said, “By the way, we just heard that Cai Bian’s daughter, Cai Yunting, was supposed to get married in the next few days.”
Xiao Dao looked up, "Whom will I marry?"
Hao Jinfeng values China.
Chonghua sighed. "He's from a wealthy family in Jinling, surnamed Qian. He's in his thirties, a notorious womanizer, and quite ugly. But his family is very wealthy, and his father and uncles were all high-ranking officials in the court, so they are very powerful."
"No wonder they asked for talisman water that doesn't attract unfaithful people." Xiao Dao shook his head.
“However, the marriage was canceled,” Chonghua said. “The other party made an excuse that Cai Yunting had spent the night outside and might not be a virgin, so they didn’t want her anymore.”
"What nonsense!" Xiao Dao frowned. "The truth is, that womanizer is afraid of getting involved with the old woman, isn't he?"
Chonghua nodded. "Smart, that's exactly it."
"Isn't this tarnishing a young woman's reputation?" Xiaoyue said indignantly. "The Qian family has gone too far."
Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan exchanged a glance, tacitly recalling Cai Yunting's fierce appearance, and inexplicably felt that Young Master Qian had escaped a calamity this time.
“According to the map, a large number of treasures are hidden in the Xianyun Mountain waterfall. Cai Bian is digging for treasure, which is why he has arranged so many people to guard it.” Xue Beifan held the map. “We still need to go to Xianyun Mountain again to find out for sure.”
"Could it be that this is all a scam?" Chonghua frowned as he looked at the blueprints. "If the Mountain Woman killed someone and stole the treasure, hiding it in the pool below the waterfall, there have been very few murders in so many years. Could she have collected so many treasures? Would she need to close the mountain to dig them up?"
"Many officials have accused Cai Lian of corruption and embezzlement, but they lacked evidence because although they knew he plundered everywhere, they couldn't find where he hid his treasures." Hao Jinfeng thought for a moment. "Do you think he might be using the terrifying legend of the Mountain Woman to hide all the gold and silver he plundered at the Xianyun Mountain waterfall? I heard recently that he's about to retire and return to his hometown. Is he planning to dig up all the treasures and take them back to enjoy?"
Everyone thought it was very likely.
"But," Xiaoyue seemed a little confused, "that Miss Cai Yunting did say that she was kidnapped by the mountain witch, how do you explain that?"
Xue Beifan, Chonghua, and Hao Jinfeng looked at each other and all felt there was some conflict, so they ended up looking at Xiaodao together.
Xiao Dao Shuang, resting his chin on his hand, muttered to himself, "I'm rather curious. There are countless man-eating monsters in this world, and this mountain woman punishes unfaithful men, but she also eats women. And she doesn't say it's for food or taste, but to maintain her youthful appearance... Who says eating young, beautiful women can maintain one's youthful appearance?"
Everyone shook their heads, indicating that they had never heard of such a thing.
After their meal, Xiao Dao and Xue Beifan decided to explore Xianyun Mountain again. This time, they were more familiar with the terrain and successfully made their way up the mountain. They climbed the long stone steps and reached Xianyun Temple halfway up the mountain.
“This temple is not for worship.” Xue Beifan pointed to the temple gate. “The main gate faces the Xianyun Mountain waterfall and pool. Above the gate is a demon-revealing mirror. Moreover, the temple is very solidly built, with a two-story structure similar to a pagoda. It is used to suppress demonic energy.”
"Is he acting out of a guilty conscience or just trying to cover something up?" Xiao Dao was pondering when he saw a sedan chair approaching from the foot of the mountain, carried by two porters towards the mountainside. Xue Beifan pulled Xiao Dao along, disappearing into the nearby woods to quietly follow.
The sedan chair stopped at the entrance of Xianyun Temple, whereupon a woman stepped out gracefully and walked into the temple with a sullen face.
Xue Beifan and Xiao Dao were both surprised when they saw the person's appearance clearly—it was Cai Bian's seventh concubine! What was she doing here?
The two leaped onto the mountain gate at the entrance of the temple. Looking into the temple, they saw the Seventh Concubine walk straight into a main hall. Xiao Dao and the others quickly followed.
Inside the temple, a very old nun was sitting at a table drinking tea.
Upon seeing the Seventh Concubine enter, he rose and greeted her.
The seventh concubine strode in, slammed her hand on the table, and shouted, "What kind of work are you doing?!"
The old nun was taken aback, puzzled. "Seventh Madam, what happened?"
"I told you to kill Yunting, and to be clean, how did she come back alive?!" The Seventh Concubine's words made Xue Beifan and Xiao Dao, who were eavesdropping, instinctively stick out their tongues—truly, you can know a person's face but not their heart; it turned out that this Seventh Concubine had ordered the murder of Cai Yunting. No need to ask, it was that old nun in disguise as the mountain woman… Judging by her appearance, with a veil, it would be impossible to tell the difference.
"Seventh Madam, I clearly followed your instructions, striking her head with the golden mace and then sinking her into the pool, waiting for you to eat her today. Yet... she didn't die?"
Xiao Dao felt a chill run down her spine and gently tugged at Xue Beifan's sleeve—"What do you mean by 'eat'? Can you explain it to me?"
Xue Beifan also found it somewhat creepy; did this seventh concubine have a habit of eating living people?
The seventh concubine sat down angrily, "She's done a terrible job. Now that she's gone back alive, I'm going to have to suffer again."
Old Ni smiled awkwardly and poured her tea, seemingly quite afraid of her.
"Tsk." The seventh concubine picked up the bronze mirror on the table and looked at her face. "Look, you've got a few more fine lines. I don't know what's wrong with the master lately, he ordered the mountain to be closed. If you can't prepare some magic medicine for me, I'll turn into a haggard old woman in a couple of days!"
“Seventh Madam, I’m anxious too, but now that the mountain is sealed off, not only are there no young and pretty girls, but even old women from the neighborhood can’t get in,” the nun sighed. “I can’t go out and help you catch people.”
“Speaking of young and beautiful, there was one yesterday,” the seventh concubine said angrily. “I don’t know what kind of sorcery she used, but she escaped unharmed. I was originally planning to bring her here this morning so you could kill her alive and give me her blood to drink.”
Xiao Dao's mouth gaped open, big enough to fit an egg, before she realized she had almost become someone else's meal.
After complaining for a while, the seventh concubine took out a piece of red paper with the birth date and time written on it and gave it to the old nun. "This is the birth date of that famous courtesan that the master has recently taken a fancy to. You curse her to get sores on her face!"
Xiao Dao instinctively covered her face, and Xue Beifan almost burst out laughing. He had always wondered how those wealthy women with grievances passed the time. It turned out their lives were so rich, killing this person today and cursing that person tomorrow, keeping them busy for a while.
Xiao Dao thought this seventh concubine was even more like a monster than the old woman, so he wanted to pull Xue Beifan away quickly. He stood up, not expecting that a short tree with crisscrossing branches behind him had a hard branch snag on the back of Xiao Dao's clothes with a "rip".
Xiao Dao was startled, and then heard the old nun inside shout, "Who goes there!"
Xue Beifan frowned. This old hag knows martial arts! He grabbed Xiao Dao and leaped onto the roof.
Xiao Dao's skirt was torn, and she awkwardly pried Xue Beifan's hand off her waist, saying, "Stop hugging and cuddling."
Xue Beifan thought to himself, "I've already hugged you, and I hugged you last night too, you just didn't know."
Inside the house, the old nun and the seventh concubine both came out.
Xiao Dao secretly exclaimed "Oh dear!" because the fabric that had been caught on the back of her skirt was still hanging on the branch.
The old nun reached out and gently ripped the white silk from the tree branch, then slowly raised her head and looked around. Xue Beifan quickly grabbed Xiao Dao and hid behind the roof.
"Was someone there just now?"
"Hmm, two people." The old nun took a deep breath. "It smells so good. They must both be young people, a man and a woman."